links

Finally!!! after a long and exhaustive search, i've finally found a vendor for the 3D animation for the film. Art Duck Studios (www.artduck.com) will tackle the 12 3D animation effects for the film. A dozen doesn't sound like a lot, but they sure are money shots man!! I'll post more in time and hopefully have some WIPs (work-in-progress, guys) to show you as we move ahead. For now, you can check out a previous blog entry about the 3D spec materials i was showing around for an RFP (request for propsal, guys). Yay!!

sup all, woah, i'm getting tired! In addition to the day job, i've been committing 4-6 hours a day on the vfx for the film - 1 hour on the train each way + another 2-4 hours in the evening!!

I've been meaning to post some samples for you, but i just don't want to take any time away from actually creating them. many shots are just muzzle flashes and shell ejections- standard stuff now - but there are some others that are just so much fun to do- the thing is, I'm hesitant to show them to you cuz many of them are major plot points that would really ruin the viewing.

so instead, I thought I'd post some links of great places to learn and get vfx assets to enhance your own action flicks...

Brian Thone, our beloved prop master, has posted more WIP photos of the Multibodies on his site..For you newbies, that's work-in-progress photos!! This time you can see how the attachable gun unit looks like...

As we've mentioned before on this site, the Multibodies in the film accompany the soldiers on missions and provide surveillance functionality and, in this case, elevated lines of fire.

Q: Are you shooting digital or film? And, if digital, are you shooting HD? How did you come to your final decision on shooting format?

A: We'll be shooting on miniDV. The initial reason was simply because I own 2 miniDV cameras and wanted to spend the budget on other things! I own a Sony TRV-900 and Canon XL-1. Since that decision though, I've read about the film, Broken, (www.whatisbroken.com) and seen what they've done with miniDV and it looks amazing!! That totally reinforced my decision to shoot on miniDV. I am curious about HD and want to eventually try it out, but HD's not going anywhere so I'll wait it out a bit...plus there are hardware considerations for HD in terms of my editing/fx studio and really don't have the time to see what upgrades I may need to take. So that's it! Btw, if anyone knows any good sites about tips and stuff when shooting with miniDV, send them over!!!

StudentFilmmakers.com - This is one of the best online communities for students, indie, and pro filmmakers. The site is frequented by filmmakers from all over the world. There is a forum for every subject you'll want and many are moderated by successfully employed pros in the business. So check it out and look for me there (username: markcheng) and say hi to Kim Welch, the founder of the site!

VideoGuys.com - If you want to be an independent filmmaker and shoot, cut, and render your own fx, you gotta know about how to get the highest bang for your buck. These guys have been around for a while and can offer a ton of information.